


Helmet

by VoidLeviathan



Series: Operation: Help Bubby and Gordon Escape Black Mesa [4]
Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Its a very light fic I promise, Light Angst, M/M, Nervousness, Not Beta Read, Protectiveness, Scars, Security Guard Forzen, Whats this an Operation fic without Gordon OR Bubby?, Wings, just a heads up for that, more likely than you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:53:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26001448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoidLeviathan/pseuds/VoidLeviathan
Summary: "I never liked it anyway. Made my hair feel weird. The texture on the insides kinda bad to feel on my head all the time so...plus its...I don't really need protection.""The scars across your blind eye and the clearly once broken nose say otherwise."
Relationships: Darnold/Forzen (Half-Life)
Series: Operation: Help Bubby and Gordon Escape Black Mesa [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852270
Comments: 1
Kudos: 44





	Helmet

"You're only human right?"

The question was certainly out of the blue, but Darnold supposed Forzen was only trying to get a grasp on who was and wasn't 'special' in their current group. He nodded.

"Yes thats- I'm human...yeah…"

"And you don't have any sort of protection?"

"Well I- what?" Darnold tilted his head, "I guess not, but I and Coomer are really the least of the facility's problems. They're after Gordon and Bubby so they're less likely to attack us first."

"Its still dangerous." The guard's wings ruffled ever so slightly. Darnold came to know this as a slight sign of stress between the winged, something they did when their anxiety started to spike up.

"I'll be alright, Forzen. I've made it this far without a scratch right?"

"Its still…." His wings began to ruffle further, but before Darnold had the chance to move and sooth the frantic feathers, Forzen removed his helmet and placed it upon the scientist's head.

"Forzen what-"

"For protection." He stated. "I can't uhm- can't be physically hurt remember? If I can't be physically hurt then that means I don't need that helmet. The other winged can- could protect themselves with their abilities and Tommy and Benrey aren't...you know...so….."

"What about Coomer?"

"Hes got his cybernetics right? You're just...just you…" Well he wasn't wrong there. Darnold was, to put it simply, only himself. No major upgrades, no powers or abilities, no wings. Just...Darnold.

"And you're positive you won't need the helmet?"

"I never liked it anyway. Made my hair feel weird. The texture on the insides kinda bad to feel on my head all the time so...plus its...I don't really need protection."

"The scars across your blind eye and the clearly once broken nose say otherwise." Forzen shrugged as if the comment didn't bother him, but Darnold became all too experienced in reading the winged's body language. His feathers were ruffled again. 

"I'm sorry Forzen I didn't mean-"

"This all happened here actually." Forzen cut in, "It was my third week on the job I think. I worked a lot in the prototype area with all the...yeah...handled making sure they were all in order. Making sure no one was in danger." He sighed, "Well I guess I didn't work hard enough. Benrey came down to that section to hang around and talk. I uhm...well at the time I didn't even know he was-  _ is,  _ alien so...I mean you can guess…"

"I actually remember that day. The alarms started up and I honestly thought Bubby somehow broke out of his tank two weeks before he was ready to be released. I ran to his lab as soon as possible to find he and Coomer chatting away so I was a little confused. It ended up setting his release date back."

"Y-yeah. One of the prototypes had escaped and no one noticed. It jumped at Benrey as soon as we realized it was there and well I uhm...I didn't want to see a friend hurt. I quickly shoved his back and gave him my invincibility but the cost was…."

"Oh….Forzen…"

"Its fine." Forzen shrugged, "It was okay. Because it made it harder for Black Mesa to realize I was winged myself. If I have scars then they wouldn't think twice on if I was actually invincible or not. I just didn't know it would be so bad...I didn't know that-"

Darnold placed a gentle hand on Forzen’s wings and Forzen flinched ever so slightly at the touch. His wings ruffled fully, eventually slowly going back down once he realized Darnold was simply petting them. He liked that feeling. Comfort. Never really had it much before since he didn’t ever try to open up to anyone, so having it now felt very nice. Even if the current situation was a little rough.    
  
“Its okay to be upset over something Forzen, our feelings are kinda important to us. Bottling all that up can kinda hurt, you know? I mean you’ve seen how Gordon gets when he bottles his emotions up. Sure if you eventually crack it won’t cause us all to pass out for nearly an entire day, but it’ll still be bad on your health.”   
  
“I- right...uhm….okay…” Forzen nodded, “Alright. Yeah the scars uh- they upset me a lot. The whole day kinda haunts me but...I think I can get over it. I’ve sorta gotten over it. Our whole current situation has me a lot more on edge than a single attack from a helpless prototype did.”    
  
He chuckled slightly, knocking his hand ever so gently against Darnold’s helmet, “Keep this on okay? Even if you are practically safe with the rest of the group, you never know what might surprise you."

"Only as long as you promise me you’re safe yourself without it.”    
  
Forzen nods, wrapping his right wing around Darnold and pulling him closer, “Yes I...I promise I’ll try to stay as safe as possible without that helmet. For you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please talk to me about this au @Enby-Crow on tumblr I have so many thoughts specifically about Forzen all the time every day. Otherwise! This was nice to write. Just somethin' light.


End file.
